Baller Bear News -...
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November 2013 Helen Baller Elementary 1954 NE Garfield Street Camas, Washington 98607-1143 Pnone: (360)833-5720 Fax (360)833-5721 Website: schools.camas.wednet.edu/helenballer/ Dear Helen Baller Families, We all started to settle in and are familiar with school and classroom routines and expectations. I have been in all classrooms several times seeing the great things the students are doing. I am very impressed with the students’ work ethic, academics and behavior. We’ve had a great start to the school year. Recently the PTA helped us purchase access to a web-based math program called IXL. All students have access to the program at school, at home or any where they have access to a computer. IXL is a research based program that provides opportunities for students to practice math skills at their level. IXL’s math skills are aligned to the Washington State Standards and the Common Core Standards. Teachers will be giving students and their family login information. Log in and check it out! If you have any questions regarding IXL you can contact your child’s teacher. On November 21 st the Camas School District is holding a Parent Digital Safety Workshop. The workshop will feature a keynote speaker from MacAfee who is presenting on student safety when using technology. The workshop will be held at Camas High School and start at 6 p.m. More information will be coming soon. With the weather starting to change it is important for the kids to wear winter coats, gloves and hats to help keep them warm. Please have them dress appropriately. I want to say thanks to all the families and community members for helping make the start of the year a great one. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me in person, by phone or email. Have a great November. Go Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers! Aaron Parman, Principal Baller Bear News
Transcript of Baller Bear News -...
November 2013
Helen Baller Elementary 1954 NE Garfield Street Camas, Washington 98607-1143Pnone: (360)833-5720 Fax (360)833-5721 Website: schools.camas.wednet.edu/helenballer/
Dear Helen Baller Families,
We all started to settle in and are familiar with school and classroom routines and expectations. I have been in all classrooms several times seeing the great things the students are doing. I am very impressed with the students’ work ethic, academics and behavior. We’ve had a great start to the school year.
Recently the PTA helped us purchase access to a web-based math program called IXL. All students have access to the program at school, at home or any where they have access to a computer. IXL is a research based program that provides opportunities for students to practice math skills at their level. IXL’s math skills are aligned to the Washington State Standards and the Common Core Standards. Teachers will be giving students and their family login information. Log in and check it out! If you have any questions regarding IXL you can contact your child’s teacher.
On November 21st the Camas School District is holding a Parent Digital Safety Workshop. The workshop will feature a keynote speaker from MacAfee who is presenting on student safety when using technology. The workshop will be held at Camas High School and start at 6 p.m. More information will be coming soon.
With the weather starting to change it is important for the kids to wear winter coats, gloves and hats to help keep them warm. Please have them dress appropriately.I want to say thanks to all the families and community members for helping make the start of the year a great one. If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me in person, by phone or email.
Have a great November.Go Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers!
Aaron Parman,Principal
Baller Bear News
PTA Information:
PTA Website:www.helenballerpta.org
PTA President: David [email protected]
Vice President: Todd [email protected]
Secretary: Diana [email protected]
Treasurer: Jeff [email protected]
Newsletter: SueAnn [email protected]
Fundraising: Marcia [email protected]
Your time is a gift...Thank you forVolunteering!
How do I sign up? Check outSignupgenius.com
And enter [email protected] see a wide variety of ways
That you can help!
Need more information on the PTA:[email protected]
“Like” us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/ballerpta
11/1 – Baller Blast from 6:00 to 8:0011/7 – Veterans’ Day Assembly 2:1511/11 – Veterans’ Day – No School11/19 – Photo Retakes11/21 – Digital Safety Workshop
(for parents @ Camas High 6pm)
11/27-11/29 – Thanksgiving Break No School
Baller Calendar of Events
Order Baller Blast tickets online at:
Tinyurl.com/ballerblast
All students with October birthdays were invited to sit at the Baller Birthday Table and enjoy an ice cream treat on Oct. 18th. Thanks to all the parents and family members who were able to attend. The kids love having family there. Photos will be posted on the birthday bulletin board in the cafeteria. We will be celebrating the next Birthday Table at lunchtime on Friday, November 15th. Watch for invitations to come home with your child a week prior to the event. Parents and other family members are always invited to attend. We hope to see you there! Thank you to the Farnand Family and the Citron family for donating ice cream and photos for the month of October. Your support is greatly appreciated!
If you would like to volunteer your time or donate for the event, please sign up at Signupgenius.com and search [email protected]. Thank you to all our wonderful Baller families who have helped make the Birthday Table a huge success!
Baller Birthdays!
Success Book Roll CallBelow is a list of students who have signed the Success Book during the month of September. Any Helen Baller staff member can have a student sign the Success Book for being successful with academics, behavior or work ethic. Several of the
students signed the Success Book multiple times, but I have only listed their name once. Way to go Helen Baller Bears! We are proud of you!
Corrigan RotzPaige HuthRenae YorkClark DinhJackie ReyesErikaZachary WoodwardRegan VanCleaveRylee TothElliot ZinnSophia RubanoVineh BhuiAiden ShimataJulie MarshVictoria LenoirEmily ElwellEdison TwymanReagan WrightViolet SmileyEmily PinedoAiden StewartAutumn SterleMason PackerAnnika KingKiana GouveiaCarter NelsenBrad CoxEmma HankinsMackenzie ReaCyenna McCusker
Madeline JohnsonLeland HeflinCharlie StremelMercedes KienzleTorin PasaJake SilvaLexi KienzleJustin TaylorConner MurphyRylee TothAvel LeytnerMia ParnellAlex KariSusannah GillespeEoin RyanMax McIverKaden GoosetreeBraden BestValentine ReyesTayvian Hart-PineFiona RobertsonSophia LapinCorban FishbachParker CastellaniTaylor BanckeAjaj JensenKai EcheverioBrietta GloverSawyer CliftonMaia Sampey
Erika VoiculescuStory HopeBen FloydElly PelyukhnoNathan MillerJosiah LupekhaGage ReynoldsAsherSeth LymanBroc GrozaShaye ParnellAnnika StupfelKellen DufnerMia LinJessica LichevskiyTaylor BanckeWyatt SimkoHunter MaysEmma HankinsShelby BohannonJack BoothRyan DavisBlake AdairBriseyda ReyesJacqueline BrizuelaRyan NiziolDylan GoodwinLukas ScharrelmanSawyer CliftonDean Clifton
Counselor’s CornerThree R’s of Bullying
Helen Baller uses the Steps to Respect curriculum in third, fourth and fifth grade to help our students gain the skills necessary to understand and respond to bullying behavior. We cover the “Three R’s of Bullying.” These stand for learning how to Recognize, Refuse, and Report.
How do I Recognize Bullying? This is the hard part because childhood conflict and fighting is inevitable but bullying is not. The Steps to Respect program defines bullying as “Unfair and one-sided. It happens when someone keeps hurting, frightening, threatening, or leaving someone out on purpose.” Bullying is often a repeated activity and is deliberate in nature. However, it can be a one-time event too.
So, what are the key components of this definition that help me to decide if my child is being bullied? I teach our students to ask the following four questions.
Is it fair? Did one person have more power than the other? Did my child do anything to the other party first? Is it one-sided? Did my child strike back? Was there a mutual exchange of name calling or fighting? You may have to dig a little deeper on this one because many kids will answer “I didn’t do anything” when upon investigation it is discovered that they did. Sometimes, they say things like “I didn’t mean to hurt him but he hurt me on purpose.” Or, they make excuses like “I was just trying to get may ball back.” Younger children are very egocentric and it can be hard for them to see what they may have done to complicate the situation. Try to dig a little deeper but still be understanding of your child’s feelings and perspective. If they truly did nothing, then it was one-sided.
Is power being used in a hurtful way? A bad use of power is the hallmark of bullying. Most of us have power in one form or another from things like age, size, strength, support of friends, and/or access to resources. But someone exhibiting bullying behavior is using their power to deliberately intimidate, threaten, or harm someone. In a conflict, both parties have the power to resolve it and sitting down to problem solve generally works. But, in true bullying, the target of the bullying feels powerless to do anything and may even be scared to tell someone about the problem.
How does it feel? The challenge with bullying is the overlap between similar behaviors you might see in childhood conflict or fight. Even a conflit can get physical so pushing, shoving, hitting, etc. are not in themselves bullying. Name calling, teasing, and excluding someone are behaviors I see on the playground that also many or may not be bullying. All of those behaviors are hurtful and harm a person’s feelings. But, usually in bullying behavior you can add the element of fear due to the repetitive and deliberate nature of the problem.
If you still are not sure, call us and we will help. I will cover how to refuse next month.
Library News ~ Mrs. Brown
Greetings!I have been very busy learning my new job in the library! It has been challenging, rewarding, and FUN! My main goal is to inspire children to read and to enjoy reading! Please read the following for news and upcoming events in the library!
Sasquatch Books- (4th and 5th graders) Each year a panel of teacher librarians select books for this award. Twelve books are selected and each genre is represented in the selection. If your child reads four of the books, they get to vote on their favorite for WA State. The winner will be announced in late spring. If your child reads 10 of the books, they will get to participate in the first ever “Library Lock-In” which will take place in June. I will write more about the lock -in at a later date.Common Core- If you want to learn more, visit the OSPI website and you will find what you need. I have developed my lesson plans to cover the common core standards in reading and language arts.Parent Check-Out – Did you know that there is a parent resource shelf in our library? We have videos on “Love and Logic”, tips on how to help your child succeed, and how to address difficult situations like death and divorce. Stop by and I am happy to show you where to find it.iPad carts – Our school received four iPad carts with 25 mini iPads on each of them! This is very cool and exciting. Teachers are using the iPads for spelling, math facts, and a variety of new apps. In the library, I am using them for research with 3,4,5 grades. My goal is to get some e-books purchased for the iPads!Book Fair- Don’t forget the upcoming book fair which will be the last week of October and
the final night will be during “Baller Blast” on Friday, November 1st. This is a great way to purchase inexpensive, high interest books for your child!Looking forward to: Boys Read at Lunch, Live news broadcast, and a new look in the fiction section!
Thank you for all your positive comments, support, and help. I just attended a state wide library conference and my head is swimming with new information and ideas! Please keep encouraging your children to read their library books at home! Grade Level Themes Kindergarten- Monsters 1st- Bats fiction and non-fiction
2nd – Moon fiction and non-fiction
3rd- Vikings fiction, non-fiction, iPad research
4th- Titanic non-fiction and iPad research
5th- Explorers non-fiction and iPad research
READ, READ, READ, READ, READ, READ,
READ, READ,READ, READ,READ
